Premier expects ‘record’ year for domestic tourism in B.C.

Jun 3, 2020 | 2:37 PM

B.C.’s premier says the province is planning to launch an “aggressive” marketing campaign to encourage British Columbians to explore other areas of the province this summer.

John Horgan expects domestic tourism to perhaps hit record levels with international travel and visitors not currently permitted.

“We’ll see domestic tourism pick up, and, in fact, break records as British Columbians stay home and enjoy the beauty and splendors of every corner of the province. International [visitors] is going to be a challenge and we and the industry need to get our heads around that,” Horgan told a news conference Wednesday.

The premier said current restrictions on non-essential travel could start to be lifted in the next couple of weeks, depending on the daily information on COVID-19 cases.

“I would expect in the middle of June we’ll be looking at further easing of restrictions and easing into the next phase [Phase 3], but I don’t want to give people false hope. Anything could happen.”

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Horgan dismissed suggestions by the opposition Liberals to ease restrictions in some parts of B.C. that are seeing fewer COVID cases, as a way to help regional tourism.

“Having different rules in the North, the island or Kootenays is not going to change the fact that cruise ships aren’t going to be landing in B.C. until at least October. It’s not going to change the fact that international travel restrictions are going to keep people away. As for domestic tourism, we’re going to do everything we can with an aggressive promotion campaign in the days ahead to encourage people to visit every part of B.C. if they’ve got the time to do so.”

Horgan said at his news conference he was “horrified” at what happened to George Floyd and the response in major cities in the United States.

“We do our best to address racism in British Columbia, but it still exists. We have blemishes on our law enforcement record. What we do is try to get better, give police better tools of how to interact with people of different backgrounds,” he said.

by Pete McIntyre

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